Area 629.9 km² | Nearest town or city Kingscote | |
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Established 8 December 2012 (2012-12-08) Managing authorities Website Southern Kangaroo Island Commonwealth Marine Reserve |
Southern Kangaroo Island Commonwealth Marine Reserve is a marine protected area located south of South Australia in waters within the Australian Exclusive economic zone to the south of Kangaroo Island and ranging in depth from 15 metres (49 ft) to 100 metres (330 ft). It was gazetted in November 2012. It is part of a group of Commonwealth marine reserves managed by the Department of the Environment known as the South-west Commonwealth Marine Reserves Network. It is bounded on its northern side by the Southern Kangaroo Island Marine Park which is managed by the Government of South Australia. The reserve includes an ecosystem representative of the bioregion known as the "Spencer Gulf Shelf Province", a "key ecological feature" consisting of a feature known as the "Kangaroo Island Pool" and the associated "Eyre Peninsula upwelling" both notable for their "high productivity, breeding and feeding aggregations", a calving area for southern right whale and feeding areas for both the Australian sea lion and the great white shark. The reserve is classified as an IUCN Category VI protected area.